Fox Glacier

As I was picked up by TopDeck to start my tour at Jailhouse Accommodations, I noticed a handful of passengers were people that I met at Jailhouse the previous day.  The passengers would vary from different parts of the world. 

This included:

Canada: 5 (2 from Quebec, two from Saskatchewan, one from Ontario)

United States: 5 (1 from New Jersey, 1 from Missouri, 1 from Texas, 1 from Florida, and myself).  The Floridian attends Michigan; nothing more is to be said about it.

Ireland: 1

Scotland: 2

England: 1

South Africa: 1

Australia: 4

Taiwan: 1

Before we reached Fox Glacier for the day, we saw unmatched scenery that was New Zealand.  The background included rolling plains, beautiful mountains, crystal-clear lakes, and rocky hills that made up the New Zealand landscape.  As we rolled to a stopping point to take pictures, one of our tour guides even noted that the particular area we were at was used to film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.  Specifically, it was used for the final battle scene. 

Once we arrived in Fox Glacier for the night, we were served dinner.  Before dinner, the owner of the inn (who was also the barkeeper), gave the group free beer.  Though I did not partake in the drinking, the rest of the group easily downed mug after mug of cold beer after a cold day.  Dinner included beef schnitzel, fish, chicken, fried potatoes (cubed), corn, cooked carrots, and salad.  Desert included apple pie with ice cream.  It was a welcome to New Zealand type of dinner.  New Zealand made nothing short of an amazing first impression.

 Next morning, we hiked up part of Fox Glacier.  After a hearty breakfast, I participated in the half-day hike.  The heli-hike was cancelled, in which a helicopter would take hikers half-way up the glacier and hike to the top.  The morning included a cold, drizzling rain.  Fortunately, the rain subsided once we started hiking on the glacier.  The clouds started to clear, which revealed more of the beautiful glacier.  The mountainsides had numerous tiny waterfalls, with pure glacier water.  The glacier also had hallowed openings, which were very unique.  Even the rock formations and indentations that the glaciers carved out were special.